Every baseball fan knows the feeling – you are watching your favorite team play a close game, when a bad ball or strike call costs them a chance to score a run. As a fan, there is nothing more frustrating than seeing the bat taken out of a player’s hands due to a mistake by an umpire. Of course, umpires have an incredibly hard job, as the ball is frequently flying past the plate at more than 90 miles per hour. To get all of the ball and strike calls correct would be impossible for a human – which is why so many fans are now calling for the use of a robot strike zone.

This is a compelling option for one specific reason – the technology is already in place. Each stadium is already equipped with the gear to track proper ball and strike calls, and that data is used to evaluate umpire performance on an ongoing basis. So, instead of using that data to teach the umpires, why not just use the computer to call balls and strikes in the first place? It seems like an obvious step to take.

The Devil is in the Details

Getting calls correct game in and game out would obviously benefit baseball as a whole. It leaves a bad impression on fans when umpires get in the way of an otherwise good game, so having the computer call balls and strikes would improve the experience for everyone involved. However, it would have to be implemented in such as way that it would not slow the game down or fundamentally chance the course of action. The home plate umpire would still be required because there are other non-ball/strike calls and decisions that need to be made. Perhaps that umpire could be given a device that would indicate whether each pitch was a ball or a strike? Something that works seamlessly into the flow of the game would obviously be the goal.

Not If, but When

It seems like a forgone conclusion that balls and strikes will be called by ‘robot umpires’ at some point in the near future. Baseball resisted instant replay for years, only to add it and have it be largely successful. It will likely be the same story for the robot strike zone. Once the idea is seriously considered, there will be resistance at first until everyone finally understands that it is for the good of the game in the long run. Certainly long-time baseball fans will find the concept strange at first, but everyone will be able to enjoy a game that is fairly contested without the risk of a bad ball or strike call at a crucial time ruining the competition.

Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are two of the best young players in the game – on that point, there can be no debate. Both Trout and Harper combine power with speed in a way that is rarely seen. Trout has already established himself as the best player in the world with this performance over the past three years, but Harper is working hard to challenge him for that title. Hopefully, both of these players will stay healthy and baseball fans will be able to seem them thrive for many years to come.

Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing either of these great players in the 2015 playoffs. Both the Angels and Nationals have had success in recent years, although neither have been able to get all the way to the World Series. This year, each team has taken a step back, as the Nationals were blown away late in the year by the Mets and the Angels struggled to score runs for much of the season. The baseball playoffs will still be plenty exciting, but not having either Harper or Trout present is somewhat disappointing to the average fan.

The Outlook

Between the two, it seems more likely that Harper returns to the playoffs in the near future. The Nationals have a collection of talented players beyond Harper, such as Anthony Rendon and Max Scherzer. While they struggled with injuries in 2015, the Nationals could quickly rebound with the help of a few offseason adjustments.

The outlook for the Angels, however, is not quite as rosy. Trout is under contract for several years to come, which is obviously great news. On the other hand, so is Albert Pujols, who has already declined dramatically from his glory days with the Cardinals. After 138 games in the 2015 season, Albert has offered plenty of power with 38 home runs – but little else. He is hitting just .245, with a .306 OBP that is way below his career average. At this point, Pujols is contributing some benefit to the offense, but it is yet to be seen how long that will continue. There are six more years left on Pujols contract, including a $30 million salary due in 2021. It seems rather unlikely that Pujols is a significant contributor at that point. The money tied up in Pujols contract could weigh heavy on the budget for the next few seasons.

Hopefully both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper will be back in the playoffs in the near future. They are exciting young stars who both bring plenty of excitement to the game in their own way. Of course, baseball is a team game, and each player will need a solid supporting cast if they are going to move deep into October.

Every offseason seems to bring with it a new crop of highly talented free agent players – and the 2016 list will be no different. There are plenty of great names that will be hitting the free agent market, and huge contracts are sure to be handed out all winter long. While you can’t necessarily buy your success in the offseason, you can certainly help your chances by bringing in one of the top names on the market. A front line starting pitcher or a middle of the order power hitter can mean the difference between making the playoffs and going home early next fall.

There are far more than three great players on the free agent market this winter, but the three below are likely to land some of the biggest contracts.

Jason Heyward

What makes Heyward unique is not just his set of skills, but also his age. Jason Heyward will only be 26 years old when the season starts next year, which is unusual for a free agent. Since he made his debut at such a young age, Heyward started the ‘clock’ on his free agency date younger than most. Also, unlike a player like Mike Trout, Heyward never signed an early contact extension, meaning he is hitting the market looking for his first big deal. Of course, he will have no trouble finding it. The power numbers haven’t really come along for Heyward like many expected, but he is still an excellent player. With plenty of speed, skill on defense, and the ability to get on base, somebody is going to write a big check to bring in this talented outfielder.

Chris Davis

The Orioles slugger will be hitting the market this winter, and there are plenty of teams around both leagues that could benefit from a power hitting first baseman. Davis is picking an excellent time to have a good season, as his stock is certainly higher now than it was at the start of the year. Davis will be 30 when the 2016 season starts, which may limit the length of his contract slightly – but he should still be expected to command a large sum.

David Price

It just might be that David Price ends up with the biggest contract of all during the offseason. There simply isn’t anything not to like about what Price brings to the game. He throws hard, he works deep in games, and he has been durable to this point in his career. His stock doesn’t need to go up any further for him to command a $200 million deal, but his profile will be enhanced even more if he takes the Blue Jays all the way to a World Championship.

No team has waited longer between playoff appearances than the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays won the 1992 and 1993 World Series, only to see the 1994 World Series cancelled by a labor strike. While it didn’t seem likely at the time, those back-to-back World Series titles were the last playoff appearances period for the Blue Jays for more than two decades. While there have been plenty of bad Blue Jays teams over the past twenty years, they have also had the bad luck of playing in the same division as the Red Sox and the Yankees. However, that is all changing, as the 2015 version of the Blue Jays will head into the playoffs as a World Series favorite.

Josh Donaldson Coup

Getting Josh Donaldson from the A’s last offseason might be looked back on as the one transaction that changed the path of the Blue Jays for several seasons to come. Donaldson very well could wind up winning the AL MVP in 2015, as Mike Trout has faded from what was considered to be a two-horse race. Through 141 games, Donaldson has hit 38 home runs and driven in 119 runs – certainly MVP-caliber numbers. Add his high-quality defense to his proven offense and you have one of the very best players in the game. The players that Toronto gave up in order to get Donaldson – Franklin Barreto, Kendall Graveman, Brett Lawrie, and Sean Nolin – are unlikely to ever combine to produce the kind of impact that Donaldson has already had in Toronto.

Adding Mr. Price

As if having Josh Donaldson to go along with Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion isn’t enough, the Blue Jays were also able to add free agent-to-be David Price to their rotation at the trading deadline. With Price heading the pitching staff and an offense that is unrivaled in terms of power, it is hard to see the Jays as anything but Series favorites heading to October. David Price will likely not be around for long in Toronto, but he will be remembered fondly if he is able to deliver the fans a World Series title.

Will the Power Disappear?

The big question for the Blue Jays heading into the playoffs is whether or not the power will continue to show up all the way through October. Teams that are highly reliant on the home run notoriously struggle in the playoffs for a variety of reasons. For one, the weather cools down, making it harder to hit homeruns. Also, in short series, managers can match up pitchers better to hitters, making at bats harder in general. While there is plenty of talent in Toronto on both sides of the ball, the Jays and their fans will need to hope there is no power outage when October rolls around.

The 2015 version of the New York Mets included a great pitching staff, but the offense didn’t seem to have enough punch to take the Mets to the next level. The Nationals were considered the clear favorite in the East, and the Mets appeared to have little chance of securing a Wild Card spot to get into the playoffs. At least, that was the story in the middle of July. In only a couple of months’ time, however, the story has changed, and the Mets are running away with the division title.

What happened? Yoenis Cespedes, mostly. A July 31st trade send Cespedes from the Tigers to the Mets, and the team hasn’t been the same since. In his first 41 games with the Mets, Cespedes has hit an incredible 17 home runs, to go along with 42 RBI and a .309 batting average. He has quite simply be one of the best players in the game for the second half of the season, and the Mets offense looks nothing like the light-hitting squad that played the first few months of the year.

Is He MVP Worthy?

The big question surrounding Cespedes is concerning his candidacy for NL MVP. There are strong arguments on both sides of the debate, but the argument really comes down to this – can a player win the MVP with only two years in the league? After all, Cespedes played the first four months of the season in Detroit, while Bryce Harper was already busy tearing up the National League. So, does Harper win the award for a year-long campaign, or should Cespedes get it for leading the Mets past Harper’s Nationals?

There isn’t an easy answer to this question. In the end, Harper will very likely win the award based on his full season of work. And it’s not like he isn’t deserving – Harper has had one of the best seasons by a player in any league for a long time.

Getting Paid

Yoenis Cespedes probably isn’t worried too much about the NL MVP trophy, mostly because he is going to be getting paid big time in the coming offseason. As an impending free agent, there will be countless teams pursuing Cespedes to help them push for the playoffs. He has already proven what he can do for a team that needs some offensive punch, so there are sure to be plenty of 9-figure offers waiting for this powerful player.

Before the season began, there were question marks surrounding two specific American League Central teams – the Tigers and the Royals. The Royals were coming off of a World Series appearance, but they had lost both James Shields and Billy Butler. The Tigers are the defending division champions, but Justin Verlander was forced to start the season on the DL and there have been health concerns for both Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. When spring training wrapped up, the door seemed to be wide open for a team like the Indians or the White Sox to make an impression in the division. That hasn’t happened.

Scorching Start for Both

All the Tigers and Royals have done to start the season is go a combined 21-5 while outscoring their opponents by a total of 68 runs combined. Each team has thoroughly dominated their competition, and none of the other teams in the division are above .500 in the early going. Where it appeared that the division would be wide open heading into the summer, it now looks like it might be a two-horse race all season long.

Incredible Pitching by the Tigers

Even with Justin Verlander on the DL, the Tigers lead the American League having allowed just 36 total runs in 13 games. As would be expected, their offense has done the rest, already scoring 70 times in those 13 games while going 11-2. Cabrera has looked like the star that he is, and Victor Martinez has mostly picked up where he left off last season. Should Verlander be able to make a healthy and effective return to the rotation, the Tigers just may be the best team in the American League after all.

Surprising Royals Offense

Even during their run to the American League Pennant last season, the Royals were never a team that was intimidating at the plate. They used mostly speed and small ball to score a few runs, and then would turn a lead over to their dominant bullpen for the win. That recipe was a success last October, but so far this April, they have turned the offense up to a new level. Leading the league with 75 runs scored, the Royals have managed to combine excellent hitting with their reliable pitching. Just when everyone was ready to assume that the Royals playoff run was a one-year experience, they appear to be right back in contention for the 2015 campaign.

One of the top off-season story lines wasn’t actually a story at all – it was the non-trade of Cole Hamels. Despite constant speculation and rumors throughout the winter, Hamels was not traded and remains a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Considering the low expectations for the 2015 Phillies, most expected that they would move Hamels to a contending team in order to acquire some young talent. That has not yet happened, but there is a long way to go in 2015.

Phillies Off to a Predictable Start

There have been plenty of surprised in the early 2015 season, but the Phillies have not been one of them. They are 4-9 after 13 games of the 2015 season, and have been outscored by 24 runs already. The expectation that they would be one of the worst teams in the National League appears well on its way to becoming reality. That means that by the trading deadline at the end of July, the Phillies should be safely in the ‘sellers’ camp.

Hamels Not Helping

The big gamble that the Phillies are taking is that Hamels will maintain his value throughout the season until the trade deadline rolls around. So far, that hasn’t necessarily been the case. After three starts, Hamels is carrying an ERA of 5.00 and has already walked nine batters. His total of 18 strikeouts is impressive, but the seven home runs that he has surrendered could be a potential warning sign to any possible trade partners. Certainly three starts won’t undo all of the good that Hamels has done in his career, but the Phillies are hoping for the maximum return trade value from their top asset – and his start to the season has not helped toward that end.

Boston Playing Well

One of the likely trade targets for Cole Hamels is Boston, as they have assembled a team that appears to have a strong lineup with a questionable starting rotation. However, the Red Sox have started 8-5 on the young season, and the rotation hasn’t been quite as bad as some were predicting. If the Red Sox don’t need to send young talent to Philly for Hamels, the market for their ace will suddenly get smaller. While there is always a need for quality pitchers, the package that Philadelphia is able to receive in return will be directly related to the size and competitiveness of the market as July draws to a close.

During the offseason, the Seattle Mariners signed Nelson Cruz to a lucrative four-year contract after his excellent season in Baltimore in 2014. Cruz is among the leading right handed power hitters in baseball – something that Seattle has been sorely missing for a long time. The Mariners fell just a game short of the playoffs in 2014, and they were counting on Cruz to be the added punch in the middle of the lineup that they needed to put between All-Stars Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager. So far, Cruz has delivered on those expectations, and then some.

Early Home Run Surge

In just 13 games, Cruz has already logged eight home runs for the Mariners. There was some concern that the expansive Safeco Field would put a damper on the home run totals that Cruz could post, but that simply hasn’t been the case so far. He has been homering both at home and on the road, and already has 16 RBI to his credit. It has only been two weeks, but the Mariners have to be thrilled with the early returns on their investment.

Not Just Power

While Cruz will always be known mainly for his power, the early season hot start has included more than just homers. He is hitting .358 currently, and getting on base at better than 40%. Perhaps even better news for the Mariners is the reasonable strikeout numbers found on his stat line – just 10 k’s in 57 plate appearances. Cruz is never going to be a contact hitter, but keeping that strikeout rate at a reasonable level will be key to maintaining his productivity.

An Intimidating Trio

Just as it was imagined in the offseason, the 3-4-5 combination of Cano, Cruz, and Seager is already causing problems for opponents. In a game against the Rangers, Cano came to the plate with first base open and the winning run standing on third. Rather than giving Cano a chance to win the game, the Rangers chose to walk him and pitch to Cruz with the bases loaded. Cruz singled to left, and the Mariners won in walk-off fashion. There was no great option available to Texas in that scenario, because of the middle of the order quality that the Mariners now have to offer.

As a team, the Mariners aren’t off to a great start – due mostly to sub-par starting pitching. However, Nelson Cruz has certainly been doing his part to boost the offense of a team that has long struggled to score runs. If the starting pitching in Seattle can return to its form from previous years, the Mariners may be the team to beat in the West.

Coming into the 2015 season, the Miami Marlins were a trendy pick to contend in the National League. While most would agree that the Nationals are the best team in the N.L. East on paper, there is a lot to like about the team that Miami has assembled around superstar Giancarlo Stanton. However, through the first couple of weeks, the Marlins are struggling badly and have quickly fallen behind the division leading Mets. So what is going wrong in Miami?

It’s Not Stanton

As would be expected, the 3-10 start for the Marlins can’t be blamed on Stanton. He has hit three homeruns in the early going, and has an OPS above .900. The Marlins made a record-setting investment in their right fielder in the offseason, and his start to the year has done nothing to make them believe that they made a mistake. Given good health, Stanton figures to be one of the best players in the game for many years to come.

Lackluster Pitching

The starting pitching is a good place to look when trying to pinpoint the Marlins struggles in the first two weeks of the season. Only two starters have recorded a win, and only one has an ERA under 4.50. Walks have been a problem specifically for Tom Koehler and Mat Latos, and Dan Haren has been the lone bright spot among the starters. If the season is going to turn around and head in the direction that many expected, it is going to have to include better performances from the starting staff. Looking down to the bullpen, it is much the same story. With a combined ERA of almost 5.00, the Marlins relief pitching hasn’t been offering much help once the starters are removed from the game.

Sluggish Offense

The Marlins offense is not without blame in their poor start either. While Stanton and Dee Gordon have been terrific, a long list of other hitters are struggling to get going in April. Martin Prado, Adeiny Hechavarria, Marcell Ozuna, Ichiro Suzuki, and Christian Yelich are all players with significant playing time and an OPS under .700. Even the power hitting Michael Morse is only checking in with a .710 OPS currently, having already struck out 12 times against just three walks. The two-man game of Gordon and Stanton is going to need some assistance from the rest of the roster if the Marlins are going to dig out of the early hole in the standings that they have created.

The biggest single story of the early baseball season has been Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant. A top prospect and just 23 years old, Bryant certainly appeared to have done enough in spring training to earn a spot on the Cubs roster. However, Chicago chose to have Bryant start the season in the minor leagues, likely to delay the start of his service time for contractual reasons. Whatever the motivation behind his early demotion, Bryant is in the Windy City now and he is likely to make an immediate impact in the Cubs lineup.

Minor League Pedigree

Having played college baseball at the University of San Diego, the 23-year old Bryant has only played a total of 181 games at the minor league level. While that is a small sample of professional experience, the results have been nothing short of amazing. In those 181 games, he has hit 55 homeruns and driven in 152. He also showed impressive plate discipline, accumulating 99 walks along the way. All of that adds up to a minor league career OPS of 1.092. It doesn’t matter which numbers are used, the minor league career of Kris Bryant has been short but memorable.

Big Power

Power is the name of the game for Bryant, even though he sports an impressive .327 career minor league batting average. That power comes from a 6’5’’ frame, and it seems very likely that he will be able to continue producing power numbers even facing the best pitchers in the world at the major league level. Just four games into his major league career at this point, Bryant already has a pair of doubles to his credit, along with four walks and four RBI.

Big Name Infield in Chicago

Many baseball fans and writers are predicting big things for the Chicago Cubs in coming years, and much of that has to do with the names that now line up across their infield. Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Starlin Castro, and Kris Bryant are currently the starting infielders for the Cubs. Each is young, and each comes with a background as a high-profile prospect. If even three of these players is able to translate into a quality major leaguer, the Cubs will have one of the best infields in baseball. If all four are able to do it, Chicago may just have what it takes to break the longest title drought in sports.